Brother
by Mr. Frank
Summary: Even when you're somewhere safe the unexpected can happen. It helps to know your family is there to stand beside you. Rated for implied rape and language. Oneshot.


****

Well, I just saw the movie again the other day, and was inspired. Rated M for rape (you see the beginning and end, and hear the middle) and because the Mercer bothers have dirty mouths. In this all four brothers are living together, but so far only Angel and Bobby have been adopted yet. I think that's all to say, so I'll wrap this up and let you read. Let me know what you think!

* * *

Jack's eyes darted around feverously, his heart pounding hard and fast in his chest as the boy squirmed and struggled to get himself free of the ropes binding him down. With his wrists bound together to the headboard and his ankles tied tight to the sides of the end board there was little chance of Jack getting himself free, and the gag forced firmly in-between his jaws stifled any cries and screams for help the boy tried to let loose. All that Jack could do was try and not break out into a full on panic as he watched the dark haired, scrawny teen standing over him. The boy, a kid Evelyn was watching for a few days, was staring down at his captive with a wide eyed look of excitement and a predatory grin.

"So, Jackie," the boy said, stepping towards the bed. "That is what the other boys call you, right? Jackie?" Jack's response was to cry out for the other boys in the house, but like all of his other shouts, it was swallowed up by the fabric stuffed in his mouth. The boy above him cackled, flashing crooked, tobacco stained teeth as he walked up to the edge of the bed, knees bumping against the side of the mattress.

"You know Jackie, this doesn't have to be so scary," the boy said, lifting his knee onto the bed, reaching a hand forward to caress Jack's cheek, the younger boy flinching away from the touch. "Now now," the boy said, pulling his hand back and using it to punch Jack hard in the side of the head, "Don't be like that. You can trust Chad."

Again the boy, Chad, reached forward, fingers brushing against Jack's now reddening cheek. Jack didn't respond, pressing the side of his face into the comforter beneath him as Chad's fingers moved up to rake through and tangle in Jack's messy locks. His grip in Jack's hair tightened as the pale teen lifted his other leg onto the bed, tossing it over Jack and dropping down to straddle the small boy's waist; pulling a moan from the dark haired teen and a muffled sob from the boy below him.

"Oh, don't be so sad," Chad whispered, lowering his face close to Jack's; ignoring the blue eyes watching him in fear and the tears starting to trail down his captives face. "I won't hurt you," Chad cooed, lowering his mouth against Jack's lower lip, pulling it between teeth that gently chewed and tugged. "I only want to help you," Chad whispered against Jack's mouth, the hand not holding Jack's head starting to trail down to the boy's waistband as Chad spoke.

Feeling the hand making its movements downward Jack's struggles picked back up, his body twisting and jerking as he tried to buck Chad off. Chad's response was to pull his hand back up, swinging it back and striking Jack hard across the face, jerking the boy's head to the other side. Chad then sat up, giving Jack's hair a vicious tug, waiting until the boy cried out before releasing it. He then hit Jack across the face again, followed up quickly with a punch to the gut that would have had Jack curling in on himself were he not tied down.

"You won't stop me," Chad hissed at Jack as the younger boy groaned, eyes shut tight against the pain. They flew right back open though when Jack again felt hands at his waist, Chad using one hand to hold down the boy's hips while the other fumbled with the buckle to his belt. Again Jack tried to struggle and again, hardly pausing in what he was doing, Chad hit him hard in the gut, earning a muffled 'oomph' from the captive boy.

As Jack recovered from the second hit; Chad succeeded in pulling his belt apart, now using both hands to undo the button of Jack's pants. As he realized how impossible his struggle was, Jack's tears flowed even harder and his sobs grew louder; the boy continually trying to call for the other boys in the house, praying that if they didn't hear him then at least one of the boys downstairs would realize something was wrong up above.

* * *

Angel glared at the TV, flipping through the channels for what had to be the fifth time, confirming what he and the other boys in the room already knew.

There was absolutely nothing on TV.

"Shit man, why is it that when Ma leaves, so does anything good on TV?" Angel complained. A second later he was ducking to his left to avoid a red plastic ball flying straight for his head.

"Why don't you shut your trap and find something else to do?" Bobby asked his brother, using his hockey stick to lob another ball at the boy sitting on the couch. Angel's response was to fling himself off the couch and at his older brother, tackling the teen to the ground and aiming a punch for his face. Bobby dodged, and the two proceeded to wrestle across the living room floor.

"Do you two mind?" Jeremiah asked, lifting his text book off the coffee table just in time to save his homework from his wrestling foster siblings. "Unlike some of the idiots in this house, I actually have important shit to do."

"Fuck you," Bobby shouted back, after which he ducked left to avoid another punch from Angel.

"Why don't you kiss my ass instead," Jeremiah shot back, shutting his book and setting it on the couch to protect it from his rambunctious companions. Bobby laughed at the boy's response, shoving Angel off and leaping over the coffee table, dropping down into the seat next to a less than impressed looking Jeremiah.

"Very tempting," Bobby said with a grin, "But I think the fairy might be more interested in your offer."

"Why do you keep calling him that?" Jeremiah asked, rolling his eyes at the teen next to him and then glaring. Bobby smiled in response, flashing white teeth in a shit eating grin, which caused Jeremiah to toss a couch cushion at him.

"Don't be a such a stick," Angel said, dropping into one of the living room's over stuffed armchairs. "You know it's all in good fun. Jackie doesn't care."

"Speaking of Jackie-o," Bobby said, tossing his arms over the back of the couch, "any idea where the little cock sucker is?" When Bobby noticed Jeremiah glaring at him he gave the boy an affronted look. "What? I'm being a good older brother, asking where little Jack is!"

"A good older brother?" Angel repeated, raising his eyebrows. "Man, a fence post could make a better older brother then you."

"I'm hurt," Bobby said, his voice mocking and sarcastic as he splayed a hand across his heart, pouting at the boy across the room.

"For calling Jack the family fairy, you're one fucking drama queen yourself," Jeremiah told his foster brother.

"Fuck you," Bobby shot back.

"No thanks, you're not my type," Jeremiah answered, causing Angel to burst out laughing. Bobby glared at the younger boy and then turned back to Jeremiah, a retort on the end of his tongue.

"Oh yeah, well-" he started to say, but he cut himself off, the older teen cocking his head to the side. "You hear that?" he asked the other two boys, both of whom were giving him questioning looks.

"Hear what?" Angel started to ask, but Bobby held up a finger to silence him. Straining his ears, Bobby tried to pick out the sound he had heard. Beside him Jeremiah gave him a hard look, at first trying to figure out if Bobby was just messing with him and Angel, and then also trying to hear whatever it was that Bobby was trying to pick out over the sounds of the snow storm outside.

"I hear it," Angel whispered after a second, and a moment later Jeremiah too found the noise that had the other boys could hear. It was a soft, rhythmic thumping coming from a room up above the living room. There wasn't much detective work necessary to figure out what that sound was. After all, every one of those boys knew the experience of a headboard banging in the room next door.

"Whoa, sounds like fairy is gettin' some," Bobby said, raising an eyebrow at the sound echoing from the bedroom above.

"Classy Bobby," Jeremiah said, shaking his head at the boy.

"Come on Jerry, you know that's what that sound is," Bobby said. "And it's coming from Jackie's room. Fuck, what else could it be?"

"Okay smart ass, and who's up there with him?" Angel asked. "We're the only one's here."

"No, what about that freak Ma took in?" Jeremiah suddenly asked, eyes wide. "Didn't Ma tell us to watch ourselves around him?"

It was true; before Evelyn had brought Chad Taylor to the house she had taken the four boys into the kitchen to speak with them. She had said, in a tone so stern and serious that it had taken the boys by surprise, that Chad would only be spending three days with them, and during those three days they were to keep their distance and avoid being alone with him. Evelyn hadn't explained why, but the boys could tell that she wasn't to be questioned.

"Holy shit," Angel whispered, eyes wide as Bobby uttered a curse of his own, the dots snapping together in his mind as his jaw dropped open. Bobby locked eyes with the other boys as everything clicked, only having to share a single moment of understanding before he was flying off the couch and barreling out the room and up the stairs, siblings on his heels.

"That little shit," Bobby spat, hitting the top of the stairs and grabbing the rail to spin him down the hall and towards Jack's room. Angel, who had gotten ahead of him on the stairs crashed into the boy's door, jerking on the handle and finding it locked.

"Jack! Jack, you in there!?" Angel shouted, now able to hear the bed pounding loud and clear. It didn't even hitch in its rhythm as Angel pounded the door. "You better open this up you little fucker!"

"Move, Move!" Bobby shouted, shoving Angel away from the door. He then pulled back his leg, kicking the door's lock hard; causing the door frame to shudder and the wood around the lock to splinter. A second kick had the door slamming open, and Bobby didn't even wait for the thing to swing all the way open before he was charging into the room, eyes soaking in the scene.

On the bed, back towards the boys at Jack's door was a person the boys knew to be their strange visitor. The scrawny, pale teen was straddling a pair of narrow jeaned legs that were quickly recognized as Jack's, the boy's dark, empty grey eyes looking over a shoulder through lank black bangs at Bobby, grinning mockingly at the older boy.

Bobby didn't waste a second after he was in the room. As soon as he caught Chad's eyes on his own he lunged at the boy, grabbing him around the chest and wrenching him off of Jack and onto the floor. "What the fuck do you think you're doing you little shit!?" he roared, pulling back his foot and kicking the boy in the ribs.

"Hey, hey!" Chad shouted, holding his arms up defensively, "I was almost done! You could have waited, I would have shared!"

"What he fuck did you just say to me?" Bobby screamed, grabbing Chad by his greasy hair and pulling him back up. "How dare you fucking say that!" Spittle flew from Bobby's mouth as he roared at the kid he held, who was trying to both avoid Bobby's wrath and get his pants back up around his waist. Bobby gave the kid a solid punch in the jaw, then dragged the kid from the room, past Angel and Jeremiah who had gone to help Jack and out into the hall; heading for the bathroom, grabbing the chair sitting by Jack's door as he went.

"What are you doing, you loser?!" Chad shouted as Bobby shoved him into the bathroom, the kid landing sprawled on the tile.

"I'm getting you away from my little brother," Bobby told him, a snarl on his face.

"Why the fuck do you care, he's not your real brother!"

Bobby's answer was to slam the bathroom door, wedging the chair he had with him under the knob to keep Chad locked inside the small room. Once he was sure the little rapist was locked in tight Bobby hurried back to Jack's room, the anger that had burned through his system now replaced with a bone chilling worry and fear.

"Jerry, Angel!" Bobby shouted, running back into Jack's room and crouching down beside the younger boy's bed. "He okay?"

"I don't know," Jeremiah said quietly, only glancing at Bobby for a moment before looking back at Jack. Angel had cut the boy's hands free, and they were now resting on Jack's stomach. Bobby's eyes paused on the raw red marks that circled the boy's wrists for a moment before moving to look at his foster brother's face. Half lidded blue eyes looked past him at the wall, the gaze glassy and unfocused.

Around Jack's narrow neck was a knotted piece of cloth that looked as if it had been used as a gag, although it had been pulled off at some point. Now Jack's mouth was hanging half open, the edges dripping with spittle and other fluids that Bobby decided he would rather not identify.

"Shit guys," Angel whispered as he finished cutting Jack's legs loose. "What do we do now?" Jeremiah shook his head, looking up at Bobby as the older boy walked around his younger foster sibling, coming to kneel at the head of Jack's bed.

"Jack, can you hear me?" Bobby asked quietly, reaching a hand up to brush some of Jack's wild hair from his face. Bobby had to hold back a flinch when Jack didn't respond, even when Bobby's fingers brushed against the dark bruise spreading from Jack's cheek and up around his eye in a reddish purple shiner.

"Damn…" Bobby breathed, shaking his head slightly. He then looked up as Jeremiah nudged at his arm, getting his attention and then motioning to a blanket crumpled up at the head of Jack's bed. After a second of confusion Bobby nodded, grabbing the blanket and handing it over to his sibling, who draped it over Jack's waist to cover him up.

"What should we do?" Angel asked, looking unsure about how to handle the situation. Jeremiah and Bobby looked at him and then each other, both realizing they weren't much more prepared for something like this.

"Let's get him out of this room," Bobby finally said, looking over Jack's soiled bed. "The couch has got to be better than this thing."

"Good idea," Angel said, standing up at the foot of Jack's bed. He was about to say more when a pounding from down the hall started up, accompanied by angry shouts. Judging by the looks the three teens around Jack's bed exchanged, neither was exactly in the mood for anymore of Chad's crap. "I'll handle it," Angel said when he noticed Bobby heading for the door. With a cracking of knuckles Angel stood and went around his brother, heading for the bathroom.

"Hey, don't leave any marks!" Bobby called after his sibling, watching the boy give him a nod and then vanish around the corner. Once he was gone Bobby turned his attention back to the boy lying on the bed. Jack continued to stare absently over his foster siblings' shoulders at some vague spot off in the distance, not even blinking. If not for the faint rasps of breath coming from the younger boy, Bobby would have thought his youngest foster brother was dead.

A shout at the end of the hall drew Bobby's attention to the open bedroom door, which he watched intently as he listened to the sound of a door being yanked open and then slammed back shut, followed by Angel's shouting, muffled by the walls separating him from the others. Tuning out the sounds of Angel dealing with Chad, Bobby returned his focus to Jack.

"Alright, I guess we need to get him up," he said, standing and shifting so that he was sitting perched on the edge of Jack's bed. After considering it a moment Bobby looped his arms under Jack's shoulders and started to lift him upright. The reaction Jack gave was not what Bobby was expecting. As if jolted from his coma like state by an electric shock, Jack gave a violent jerk, twisting away from Bobby, his legs kicking and hands reaching out, one tangling in the sheets beneath him, the other latching onto Jeremiah's nearby arm.

"Jack! Jack, it's okay, it's just us," Jeremiah said, his free hand grabbing the one locked on his arm. Pulling his legs up and jerking violently, Jack tried to pull away from Jeremiah, struggling to get away from the boys at the side of his bed and up against the wall. Jeremiah kept his grip on Jack's hand, not letting him squirm away as he continued trying to calm the panicked boy down.

"Jack!" Bobby barked, leaning into Jack's field of vision as he tried to meet blue eyes as they darted everywhere. "Jack, look at me Jack," Bobby said, tightening his grip on Jack slightly. "It's okay, look at me!" Jack gasped, eyes finally locking on Bobby's and darting between him and Jeremiah.

"That's right, look at me," Bobby said, still holding tight to Jack incase he tried to struggle free again. "I'm not going to hurt you. It's just me," he said, "Me and Jerry."

"Where, where-?" Jack said, breathing hard and struggling to get his sentence out. "Angel?"

"Angel, get your ass in here!" Bobby shouted, grimacing in apology as Jack flinched at the sudden shout. Down the hall a door slammed and a few seconds later Angel was in the bedroom and standing behind Jeremiah and Bobby, panting slightly as he wiped at a split lip with his jacket sleeve. "Look, see?" Bobby said once Angel was in the room, "He's here, we're all here."

"Yeah see, it's all good," Angel said, crouching down behind Jeremiah. Jack looked between the three long and hard before it seemed that he took their word and believed that they were all there and fine. He then let out a heavy breath, collapsing limply against Bobby as everything that had happened caught up with him.

"Jack? Jack, you still with me?" Bobby asked, giving Jack a slight shake. Jack responded by looking up at Bobby for a moment, eyes still glassy. "Don't-don't leave," the boy said, eyes having a slightly panicked look under the empty stare. "Please."

"We're not going to leave," Jeremiah said, squeezing the hand he still held. Jack looked at him for a moment then sighed, eyes sliding shut as he lost consciousness.

* * *

Evelyn and the doctor talked together across the hall from Jack's room, speaking in whispered tones about something that the other Mercer boys weren't all that interested in. The trio was instead crowded around the door to Jack's room, all trying to peer in through its window at their younger brother, who was sitting on his bed, legs drawn up to his chest and chin on his knees as he watched the wall.

"You can go in if you want," the doctor said, causing the boys to jump. "I think some visitors would be good for him right now," the doctor continued to say, watching the boys closely as they turned to look at him. "But don't get to loud or boisterous, and don't stay too long."

"When can he come home?" Bobby asked, watching the doctor intently, and with just a hint of suspicion. The doctor, who knew Bobby Mercer well enough to know the boy just had a distrust of all doctors, raised an eyebrow at the question.

"We won't keep him long, a few hours at the most and then he can return home. Once he does you should keep to being calm and quiet, maybe see if he will talk about what happened. But don't rush it," he added, "He'll talk when he's ready." Bobby nodded to show he understood, as did his brothers. "Any more questions?" the doctor asked, looking over all of the Mercers.

"I got one," Angel said. "Is that Chad kid going to be at the house when we get back?"

"No, he's already gone," Evelyn said, shaking her head. "They came and collected him as soon as we left to come here. He's long gone by now."

"Good to know," Angel said. Looking at his younger brother, Bobby thought he sensed a little bit of disappointment mixed in with Angel's relief. Not that he blamed him, after all Angel wasn't the only one who wouldn't mind spending just five more minutes with the greasy teen.

"So, we can go in now?" Jeremiah asked, redirecting the conversation back to where it started.

"Yes, go on in." Needing no further encouragement from the doctor, the three boys turned on the door to Jack's room, Bobby grabbing the handle and pulling it open, hurrying into the room with his brothers on his heels. But with all their hurry to get inside, once they were on the other side of the door the three boys found themselves unsure of what to do next.

Angel caught Bobby's eye as the trio looked among themselves unsurely, the younger boy raising a questioning eyebrow and shrugging slightly, indicating that he had no idea what to do. The face Jeremiah pulled showed that he was on the same wavelength.

'What now?' Bobby mouthed to the pair, glancing over at Jack, who was still staring at the wall. A mix of shrugging and heads being shaken told Bobby that he wasn't about to get any advice from his siblings. So he figured he might as well try and handle it himself.

Even if everyone, including Bobby himself, knew that he had the bedside manner of a lamp post.

Tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket, Bobby made his way over to the end of the bed where Jack was perched. He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again, glancing back at the pair behind him. They both gave encouraging smiles and motions, which Bobby answered with a slightly helpless look before turning back to the youngest sibling in the room.

"Er, hey Jack," he said, wincing at how lame the words sounded once they were out. His foster brother didn't seem to notice, blue eyes remaining trained on the wall. Sighing, Bobby shuffled his feet slightly. After about a minute of this he sighed again, deciding that just standing there wasn't getting anything done. So instead he came over and took a seat on the edge of the bed next to Jack.

"You gonna be okay?" he asked quietly, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the blonde, who's knees were still tucked tight against his chest. For a moment Bobby thought Jack wasn't going to say anything. Then Jack's eyes shifted to look at him through wild bangs, and Jack answered, just as quietly, "…Thank you."

"Huh?" Bobby asked, leaning back slightly to get a better look at Jack. When he did he noticed Angel at the edge of his vision, leaning against the wall where Jack had been staring. Judging by the way Bobby felt the bed dip, Jeremiah had also left his post by the door to join them.

"Thank you?" Jeremiah asked, confirming Bobby's suspicions, "For what?"

"…Helping me," Jack answered. "I-No one has ever…" Jack cut himself off, licking his lips nervously. His expression hardened for a moment, becoming a mix of anger and exasperation.

"Hey, hey," Bobby said, resting a hand on Jack's shoulder. "It's okay." After all, Jack wasn't the only one who had experienced life without someone who wanted to come to his aid.

"Usually people don't help," Jack said, as if reading Bobby's thoughts. "They just…ignore it."

"Yeah, well, not anymore," Angel said, pulling Jack's eyes in his direction.

"You got us now," Bobby said, his arm moving to drape around Jack's shoulders. "We're your brothers, and brothers protect each other."

"Brothers?" Jack repeated, looking up at Bobby, his expression now of carefully guarded hope.

"Brothers," Jeremiah said. "And as long as you have us, nothing-and no one-can hurt you again."

"Not without us hurting them back," Angel said, causing a small smile to flicker across Jack's face. Bobby grinned, reaching up a hand and ruffling Jack's hair, causing the kid to glare slightly.

"Get some rest Jackie," he said, climbing off the bed. "We'll see you later."


End file.
